SC vs CDF

[Deleted]

Hey fellow locks,

So far during this expansion I have been playing with SC on all ST encounters, mostly because I haven't felt like CDF did enough damage to justify the loss of more soul shards. Atm I'm on 29% haste and 22% crit, and would like to hear from some of you guys if you play around CDF and if it becomes a better choice than SC at certain levels of haste?

[Gaidax]

CDF is simply inferior by the grace of the fact that it's another button to press and another element you may fail to use optimally due to encounter constraints, compared to absolutely passive SC that gives the same benefit.

[penquinn]

CDF is simply inferior by the grace of the fact that it's another button to press and another element you may fail to use optimally due to encounter constraints, compared to absolutely passive SC that gives the same benefit.

the channel is what makes it worse

[Baconeggcheese]

the channel is what makes it worse

Channel actually gives it a pretty decent advantage in response to movement / mechanics vs SC since it doesn't lose as much dps as completely canceling a cast.
@Azar The difference between the two is so small that it honestly doesn't matter. One thing that one might normally consider a benefit is that CDF is going to be more consistent because it does its dmg over 15 hits every time which means you'll have a silly high number of total hits from it that WILL average out over the course of the fight.

SC on the other hand is going to have more RNG involved and have those higher peaks and valleys, which is gonna make it feel better since while CDF on average will be 2-3% ahead SC will more often have those pulls where it might spike up ahead of CDF because you get a ridiculously lucky string of procs.

With the current tuning there's pretty much no reason to use CDF because its more fun to just gamble on the SC RNG and the consistency of CDF doesn't matter in the slightest.

[Deleted]

CDF does benefit from backdraft, which makes the channel time really short. You can also use it with havoc for double the amount of hits. Plus it's simply more fun, it's not like we have many buttons to press in the first place.

[Nerfarien]

I wanted to like and love CDF but in its current state it is worse in my opinion because:
- it is broken. Still broken since alpha. Sometimes it does not allow you to cast it whilst immolate is up unless you refresh it or allows you randomly when it expires, resulting in loss of dps.
- it is channeled. No mythic fights (or heroic for that matter) would want you to waste time channeling for that long but it is a personal experience.
- is a pain in the ass to Havoc sometimes. Just not worth considering that CB does so much more.
- is extremely situational. If shit hits the fan or you need to move constantly you are screwed.

All in all I take Wreak Havoc most of the time and CB on pure ST. Rip CDF.

[JDiva]

My warlock guildmate plays destro and is a huge fan of CDF. He just loves the animation and really believes it is a hard-hitting ability. But whenever we go through our logs I realize he is not casting it on CD to which he replies that he "always has to move the second it gets ready again". After that he forgets to press the button at all I think Id prefer SC in any situation.

[Gaidax]

My warlock guildmate plays destro and is a huge fan of CDF. He just loves the animation and really believes it is a hard-hitting ability. But whenever we go through our logs I realize he is not casting it on CD to which he replies that he "always has to move the second it gets ready again". After that he forgets to press the button at all I think Id prefer SC in any situation.

This is literally the no.1 reason why I believe Soul Conduit is simply better than CDF. If you are not using CDF on CD in absolutely perfect way or have to cut channel in the middle, it is simply becoming worse than SC for sure. It is simply another point of failure added to the gameplay for no tangible benefit, while SC is basically both passive and foolproof.

CDF is already a toss up with SC if you use it optimally, if you do not use it optimally - then it's just bad.

It's a lot like Demo, in theory it should be great, but to play it at its full potential you need to be a frikkin machine.

[Baconeggcheese]

If you are not using CDF on CD in absolutely perfect way or have to cut channel in the middle, it is simply becoming worse than SC for sure.

Not sure why you think that, having to cancel mid cast CDF is actually superior due to it being channeled, and being forced to delay a few seconds really isn't the end of the world. Remember all both of these talents do is trade incinerate damage for X dmg.

Really the only argument to be made for SC (without feretory which is since it becomes flat out better) in ST is that its more likely to RNG into higher damage than CDF which will almost definitely average out due to the sheer volume of hits it'll have. And since they're already so incredibly close in damage, it really doesn't take much for SC to have a better pull.

[sd2400533]

I would only take CDF if it can cast while moving, otherwise, SC for sure.